Keane Named Athlete of the Week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - For the second-consecutive week, West Virginia University women’s soccer senior goalkeeper Sara Keane has been named the Varsity Sports Report Athlete of the Week.

The Mountaineers defeated Rutgers in penalty kicks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 16, in front of the fifth-largest crowd ever at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

The Mt. Laurel, N.J., native stopped all three of the Scarlet Knights’ penalty kick attempts, and recorded seven saves in the match, securing her career-high 10th shutout of the season.

Keane has recorded 27 career shutouts and 230 saves. Keane and the Mountaineers travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face No. 1-seeded Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m., in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 7-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team travels to Blacksburg, Va., for an NCAA Tournament second-round showdown with top seed and No. 4-ranked Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m., at Thompson Field … the winner will face the winner of No. 4-seed Santa Clara-Boston on Sunday, at 1 p.m., also at Thompson Field.

Last Week in Women’s Soccer
The Mountaineers (13-3-3, 7-1 Big 12) earned the right to advance in the NCAA Tournament with a 0-0 double-overtime draw against Rutgers on Saturday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … WVU edged RU 3-0 in penalty kicks in front of 1,610 fans, a season-high crowd and the fifth-largest crowd to witness a WVU women’s soccer game at DDSS … senior Sara Keane made seven saves in 110:00 of action for her fourth straight shutout and 10th of the season … Keane also turned away the final two RU PK attempts … the squad’s first went wide … senior Frances Silva, freshman Kadeisha Buchanan and junior Jess Crowder converted the WVU PKs … WVU outshot RU 26-17, and earned a 9-7 advantage in shots on-goal … RU had five corner kicks to WVU’s 3.

Notes & Quotes
This is WVU’s first appearance in the NCAA Second Round since 2010 … this is the ninth time in program history the Mountaineers have advanced past the first round … Saturday was WVU’s first PK match since 2008, and the team’s first PK win since 2007 … Keane has made 16 saves in the Mountaineers’ last two matches … WVU is 3-1 all-time against VT … in their last meeting, the Hokies defeated the Mountaineers, 1-0, in the NCAA Tournament first-round match at DDSS, on Nov. 12, 2011 … WVU’s last NCAA second-round appearance resulted in a 2-1 victory at Penn State on Nov. 14, 2010 … WVU is now 12-13-1 in all-time NCAA Tournament matches.

Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown: “This team has just grinded all year long. They’ve faced such adversity, and for them to pull together and get this one, our first one, makes it more special. It’s just special. Everything about this experience this week was awesome.”

This Week in Volleyball
West Virginia hits the road to face No. 1-ranked Texas on Thursday, Nov. 21, in Austin, Texas, at 7:30 p.m. ET, then travels to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Volleyball
The Mountaineers split two Big 12 matches this week. West Virginia fell to Iowa State, 3-0, on Wednesday night at the Coliseum, but rebounded on Saturday with a 3-0 win over TCU, earning their 10th sweep of the season.

Notes & Quotes
The Mountaineers have tied their most wins in a single season since 2004, and are just one win shy of their most wins in a season since 1991 … Saturday’s win was the Mountaineers first ever over TCU, who leads the all-time series 4-1.

Coach Jill Kramer: “Regardless of who we were playing, I wanted our group to get back on track. I can’t tell you enough how proud of them I am. They regrouped and took a lot of responsibility for what was going on, and fixed it.”

This Week in Men’s Soccer
The team has completed its 2013 season.

Last Week in Men’s Soccer
West Virginia fell to No. 8 Akron, 3-0, in the MAC Tournament semifinal, ending the 2013 season.

Notes and Quotes
WVU finished the season with a 7-7-5 record, including 2-2-2 in MAC action … Akron finished with a 22-8 edge in shots, including 7-2 in shots on goal … the Zips also took four corner kicks to the Mountaineers’ three.

Coach Marlon LeBlanc: “We had a couple of chances early off turnovers, but we lost it midway through the first half. We picked the worst day to have our worst day.”

This Week in Cross Country
The No. 24 Mountaineers will compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terra Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 23, after receiving an at-large bid.

Last Week in Cross Country
The Mountaineers posted a fourth-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional on Friday, Nov. 15, in Bethlehem, Pa, finishing ahead of No. 22 Princeton ... Six of the seven West Virginia runners posted personal-best times, led by sophomore Kelly Williams, who finished in 21st place overall.

Notes & Quotes
Five WVU runners finished in the top 30 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional, three of which were underclassmen … Coach Sean Cleary has guided the Mountaineers to a NCAA Championship appearance in sixth of his seven seasons at the helm.

Coach Sean Cleary: “We are so excited to be chosen to represent the state of West Virginia and West Virginia University at the NCAA finals. This meet features the best collegiate cross country runners in the world, and we are grateful to be a part of it.”

This Week in Women’s Basketball
The Mountaineers return home from Honolulu, Hawaii for a 2 p.m. matchup with Virginia on Sunday at the WVU Coliseum.

Last Week in Women’s Basketball
WVU went 3-0 last week at the Rainbow Wahine Classic held in Honolulu, Hawaii … the Mountaineers defeated Ole Miss 86-56, Washington State 88-66 and host team Hawaii 59-56 to take home the classic’s trophy.

Notes & Quotes
Senior guard Christal Caldwell and senior center Asya Bussie were each named to the Rainbow Wahine Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 14.0 and 17.7 points for the tournament, respectively. Sophomore Bria Holmes rounded out WVU’s top three scorers for the tournament, averaging 13.0 points over the course of the three games. As a team, the Mountaineers shot 48.8 percent for the week, recording as high as 56.4 percent from the field against Washington State. The Mountaineers are now 3-1 on the season.

This Week in Swimming & Diving
The teams were idle last week.

Last Week in Swimming & Diving
The WVU Swimming and Diving squads return to competition to wrap up their fall semester competition this week for the Mizzou Invitational in Columbia, Mo., on Nov. 21-23.

This Week in Rifle
WVU Rifle is idle this week. The Mountaineers will return to the WVU Rifle Range and begin spring semester competition by hosting GARC foe NC State on Jan. 19.

Last Week in Rifle
No. 3-ranked WVU (6-0, 4-0 GARC) shot in its final match of the fall semester against No. 13 Navy (7-5, 1-3 GARC) on Nov. 16, at the WVU Rifle Range, with a 4678-4627 victory over the Midshipmen.

Notes & Quotes
WVU won both guns, outshooting Navy 2326-2295 in smallbore and 2352-2332 in air rifle … for the fourth match in a row, sophomore Garrett Spurgeon won smallbore with a 586 mark, matching his season high … junior Meelis Kiisk earned a second-place finish in smallbore (582) and air rifle (590) … junior Thomas Kyanko and Spurgeon tied for third with 587 marks in air rifle… freshman Sydney Smith shot 586 in air rifle, a season and career high … junior Taylor Ciotola matched a WVU school record, shooting 200 prone in smallbore for an overall 575 score … junior Maren Prediger shot a season-high 579 smallbore, tying with senior Daniel Sojka for fourth (579).

Coach Jon Hammond: “It’s been a semester of gradual growth and improvement. We’ll continue to train and keep improving. We’re excited to see what next semester brings.”

This Week in Rowing
West Virginia concluded its fall season at the Rivanna Romp in Earlysville, Va., on Sunday, Nov. 17.

Last Week in Rowing
The Mountaineers are idle this week.

Notes & Quotes
WVU’s boat B finished the varsity 8+ race in 13th place overall with a time of 14:52.7 ... crew A was right behind, finishing in 14th place overall in 14:53.2 ... in the novice 4+, The Mountaineers’ boat A came in 17th place overall (16:14.2) ... boat D was the next WVU crew to finish, coming in 26th with a 17:09.3 ... boat B and C crossed the line in 27th and 28th place, respectively.
Coach Jimmy King: “Today’s performances were surprisingly poor and it’s frustrating to not see the results of our progress on land equated on the water. Despite our struggles on the water this fall, we know this group can and should be more competitive in the spring. We have a really good group this year and there’s no doubt that they’ll keep working diligently toward the spring season when the results matter most.”

This Week in Wrestling
West Virginia travels to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Classic on Saturday, November 23 ... it will be an all-day event.

Last Week in Wrestling
The Mountaineers defeated Midland in Ames, Iowa, 34-6 ... WVU fell in its first Big 12 conference match of the season, losing to No. 17 Iowa State, 22-12 ... two Mountaineers placed at the Harold Nichols Open on Nov. 16.

Notes & Quotes
Senior Nathan Pennesi (133) won his first two matches of the season ... Junior Colin Johnston (141) went 2-0 on Friday and then reached the semifinals at the open ... freshman Wayne Purnell (HWT) went 1-1 in the dual meets on Friday ... sophomore Mark Colabucci (184) went 4-1 on Saturday on his way to a second-place finish ... sophomore Tim Wheeling (157) won three matches to finish in sixth-place ... sophomore Bubba Scheffel (174) won three matches, all by fall ... senior Mac Mancuso (184) and freshman Cory Stainbrook (125) each won two matches at the open.
Coach Craig Turnbull: “The purpose of the trip was to wrestle a dual meet with Iowa State. The tournament was a secondary purpose, but it allowed us to get some other people matches. For those that wrestled two matches yesterday, we did not want to wrestle them in a whole tournament. We purposefully set a number of matches. The weekend was overall very good for us, and we grew as a team through the experience.”